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Thursday, 20 April 2017

PASCAL GARNIER - THE ESKIMO SOLUTION (2016)

Synopsis/blurb.......

A crime writer uses the modest advance on his latest novel to rent a house on the Normandy coast. There should be little to distract him from his work besides walks on the windswept beach, but as he begins to tell the tale of forty-something Louis – who, after dispatching his own mother, goes on to relieve others of their burdensome elderly relations – events in his own life begin to overlap with the work of his imagination.
Another read from Garnier, my fourth in total and whilst enjoyable not quite up there with the others.

Kind of a dual narrative here - or book within a book. A crime author called Louis is writing a book about his protagonist also called Louis. We spend time in the company of both.

Our author, has isolated himself from his girlfriend in the hope of making some progress on his book, but is distracted by his girlfriend's daughter, his neighbours, an impending trip to England and by his friend Christophe.

I've always been jealous of Christophe......He lives, I bluff: he's a magician, I'm a con artist; he touches, I manipulate. I can't think of him without comparing myself to him. The fact of the matter is he has always put the spotlight on my own mediocrity.

Our fictional Louis is meanwhile doing his bit for population control while similarly improving the financial situations of himself, his ex-wife and her husband and the family of a friend.

I found the writer - Louis annoying and much preferred the company of the other one, though he is hardly likeable. Maybe he was just more interesting to read about.

There is a kind of symmetry to the novel - art imitating art, as the story of our fictional Louis ends and writer Louis mimics his creation albeit somewhat accidentally.
Garnier, as ever has some fantastic turns of phrase......

His mouth flares open like an old hen's arsehole, but very little comes out....If he was a used car, he'd be unsellable...

A quick read at about 160 pages. Enjoyable but not his best.

3.5 from 5

Pascal Garnier passed in 2010. Gallic Books have been offering his books in translation since 2012.

11 comments:

That story-within-a-story structure can work really well if it's done effectively, Col. But I know what you mean about liking one of the stories more than the other. I'm glad you found things to like about this one, and, hey, Garnier's good even when not at his best.

I'll keep an eye out for whichever one it is. I like the fact that he tells his tales in less than 200 pages - less is more for me! I was unaware of him, until Gallic Books started translating his ouevre. Apparently there's another one later thsi year - that'll be 10 in total!

T.M. Logan 's 29 Seconds was looked at on the blog yesterday - here . Today the author kindly answers a few que...

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